The prophecy [massa] of the word of the Lord to Israel through the prophet Malachi. Malachi refers to his prophecy using the term massa, literally a burden. This term suggests that prophets often experienced their prophesying as burdensome.

I loved you, said the Lord, but you say: How have You loved us? How can we discern Your love? God responds: Wasn’t Esau a brother to Jacob? – the utterance of the Lord – Esau and Jacob shared a brotherly bond from conception, as the twin sons of Isaac and Rebecca, and yet I loved Jacob.

But I hated Esau and I rendered his mountains a desolation and rendered his inheritance, the land of Edom, a habitation for the jackals of the wilderness.

If the population of Edom will say: We are ruined, but we will return and build the ruins, so said the Lord of hosts: They will build, and I will destroy; they will be called the boundary, the land, of wickedness, and the people who the Lord rages against forever. The people of Edom will fail in their attempts to restore their land, and it will remain cursed.

In contrast to the fate of the descendants of Esau, your eyes will see the downfall of your enemies, and you will say: May the Lord be glorified and honored beyond the boundary of Israel.

The prophet accuses the priests on God’s behalf: A son will honor his father, and a servant respects and fears his master. This is the normal order of life. If I am a father, where is My honor? If I am a master, where is My fear, the Lord of hosts says to you, the priests, scorners of My name and belittlers of My honor. And you say: How have we scorned Your name? After all, we serve in the Temple and observe its laws.

The prophet cites God’s response: You present tainted bread on My altar, and you say: How have we tainted You, Your bread? You have polluted it in your saying: The table of the Lord is contemptible. You treat the altar as a worthless item.

When you present a blind animal for sacrifice, is nothing wrong? When you present the lame and ill, is nothing wrong? Present it now to your governor. Try to offer such a blemished animal to your ruler of flesh and blood; will he be pleased with you, or will he show you favor? – said the Lord of hosts.

Malachi tells the priests: Now, please implore God that He accept your gifts, so that He may be gracious to us by exercising mercy, or by bestowing a blessing upon us. This offering of blemished animals was from your hand; will He show any of you favor? said the Lord of hosts.

If only there were even one among you who would rise and shut the doors of the Temple, so you would not kindle My altar in vain. I have no desire for you, said the Lord of hosts, and I will not accept an offering from your hand.

For from the rising of the sun to its setting, across the entire world, My name is great among the nations, and in every place, burnt offerings and pure meal offerings are presented to My name, for My name is great among the nations. They know that I am the God of gods, said the Lord of hosts.

But you profane it, My name, in your saying: The table of the Lord, the altar, is tainted, and its fruit [nivo] is contemptible, as is its food. According to Rashi, nivo refers to the priests’ speech [niv] about the altar, as they refer to the altar’s food as contemptible. God declares: Unlike the gentiles, who offer pure meal offerings in My name, you, who are My beloved, defile My bread.

You also say with regard to the offering: Behold, this is bothersome to bring an offering. Alternatively, behold, even this defective and weak animal is fit for the altar. And you disappointed Him – the utterance of the Lord of hosts. Out of respect for God, the prophet refers to God in the third person, even though he is transmitting the statement of God. And you brought the stolen, and the lame, and the ill, and you brought the blemished offering; should I accept it from your hand? said the Lord.

Cursed is the scoundrel who has a ram in his flock, and vows to bring an offering, as if to indicate that he is a generous and righteous person, and yet when he fulfills his vow, he slaughters the blemished animal to the Lord. Such an individual is cursed, for he has shown disdain for Me, as I am a great King, said the Lord of hosts, and My name is awesome among the nations.

And now, this commandment of respect for the Temple service is to you, the priests.

If you will not heed, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory to My name, said the Lord of hosts, I will send among you the curse, and I will curse your blessings, your successes and your crops: I will transform the earlier blessings You received from Me into curses, or: I will curse the blessings for which you pray, or the blessings with which you bless the people, the priestly benediction. I also cursed it already, because you do not take it to heart.

Behold, I berate the seed, I will curse it so that it does not sprout for you. And I will scatter dung on your faces, the dung of the offerings of your festivals, and it, the dung, a reference to sin or the enemy, will carry you to it, to be as disgusting and wretched as the dung itself. The blessing, grace, and divine favor expressed in the priestly benediction will become a curse, and you will be distanced from Me due to your deeds.

You shall thereby know that I sent this commandment to you, so that My covenant will be upheld with the tribe of Levi, said the Lord of hosts.

My covenant was with him, the house of Levi, a covenant of life and peace; these blessings are contingent on the priests’ adherence to their responsibilities. And I gave it, the covenant and its assurances, to him, the tribe of Levi, so that it should accept them in fear of God, and he indeed feared Me, and due to My name, he was intimidated.

The Torah of truth was in his mouth. The Levites would teach the people Torah and justice. And injustice was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and honesty, and he returned many from iniquity.

For the lips of the priest will safeguard knowledge. A priest is tasked with safeguarding the Torah, and they, the people, will seek Torah from his mouth, as he is a messenger of the Lord of hosts.

But you deviated from the way; you caused many to stumble in the Torah, you corrupted and breached the covenant of Levi, said the Lord of hosts.

I also rendered you contemptible and debased to all the people, because you do not keep My ways and show partiality in the Torah. You distort the Torah to assist a person you favor or to enhance some article that you own.

Isn’t there one father, Abraham, for all of us? Didn’t one God create us? Why is one betrayed by another, by betraying our mutual obligation to marry only among ourselves and not with people of any other nation, and thereby to profane the covenant of our fathers?

Judah has betrayed, and an abomination was performed in Israel and in Jerusalem, for Judah has profaned the holy of the Lord, which is His people Israel, that He loves, and has married the daughter of a foreign god.

May the Lord eliminate the man who does this, who betrays, great and small, that is, the greatest and least of those who act in this manner, from the tents of Jacob, or, if he is a priest, from serving as the presenter of an offering to the Lord of hosts.

This is the second thing that you have done, in addition to the sin of intermarriage: Covering the altar of the Lord with tears, weeping, and moaning. You cause the altar to become flooded with the tears of your abandoned Jewish wives. It is as though the altar is saturated with their tears and can receive nothing else, so that it will not be available for the offering presented upon it, or to accept it, the offering, with favor from your hand.

You say: Why doesn’t God accept our offerings? It is because the Lord attested to the covenant, that which is between you and the wife of your youth, whom you betrayed, as your heart has strayed to a non-Jewish woman, though she, the wife of your youth, is your companion, and the wife of your covenant.

Didn’t He make man one, unlike the beasts, with his extraordinary spirit? The human being resembles his Creator more than the animals, and his spirit is higher than theirs. For this reason, the first male and female human was created in the form of one person, as the verse states: “On the day that God created man, in the likeness of God He made him; male and female He created them…and He called their name Man.” The connection between man and wife is therefore a unique and personal bond which also extends to their spirits. What does the one seek? It is godly, holy and exalted, offspring. Therefore, safeguard your spirit by controlling your passions, and let it not betray the wife of your youth. The mating habits of animals stem entirely from their biological impulse to reproduce, and therefore the concept of betrayal does not apply to them. By contrast, due to their lofty spirit, people are obligated to exercise great restraint.

For I hate divorce, said the Lord, the God of Israel. God hates the man who sends away the wife of his youth in favor of another woman. Alternatively, the verse means: If a man hates his wife, he should divorce her so that she can remarry. He should not remain with her if he loves another. And one who betrays his wife is like someone who covers his garment with villainy and seeks to honor himself in that manner, said the Lord of hosts. Safeguard your spirit and do not betray.

The prophet further rebukes the people for their crooked principles. You wearied the Lord with your words, but you say: How did we weary Him? The prophet answers: You have wearied Him in your saying: Everyone who performs evil is good in the eyes of the Lord, and it is them He desires, as you accuse God of leaving the wicked in the world and bestowing goodness upon them; or you ask: Where is the God of justice? There is no justice in the world.

Behold, I am sending My messenger, and he will clear a way free of obstacles from before Me. This messenger will eliminate evil from the world in preparation for the revelation of the Divine Presence. And suddenly the Lord of justice whom you seek will come to His Sanctuary; the messenger, the appointed guardian of the eternal covenant, whom you desire, behold, he is coming, said the Lord of hosts.

But who can endure the day of his coming? And who will be able to survive when he, the messenger, appears in order to clear the path? For he is like a refiner’s fire, and like launderers’ soap, an especially potent detergent.

He will sit, refining and purifying silver, and he will purify the sons of Levi as one purifies silver by removing the dross, and he will rarefy them like gold and like silver, and they will be for the Lord, presenters of an offering in righteousness, in the appropriate manner.

The offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant to the Lord, as they were in the best days of old and as in former years.

I will approach you for judgment, as both prosecutor and judge, and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, against the adulterers, who sin in private, against the takers of false oaths, against the exploiters of the wages of the hireling, who abuse their power by withholding wages from those whom they hired, and who exploit the widow, and the orphan, and the perverters of justice against the defenseless stranger, they, all such individuals, do not fear Me, said the Lord of hosts. These people, who act in seclusion or exploit the weak, will be held accountable for their conduct. God is aware of their actions; He will expose them and bring them to justice.

There should be no doubt about the future arrival of the Day of Judgment, when God will reveal Himself and cleanse you, for I the Lord did not change. I did not grow old, nor have I ceased to intervene in My world. And you, sons of Jacob, did not perish, as I stand watch over you; even if you are struck down and punished for your deeds, our bond remains eternal. These are the two basic facets of the Jewish people’s existence: the eternity of God and their survival.

The prophet resumes his rebuke: From the days of your forefathers you deviated from My statutes, and you did not observe them. This is not a new phenomenon. Return to Me, and I will return to you, said the Lord of hosts. This general call to repentance was issued by other prophets as well. The prophet continues: But you cannot discern the disintegration of your society, as it appears stable from the outside, since your transgressions are generally performed in seclusion. Therefore, you say in bewilderment: For what should we return? They did not understand why they needed to repent. They felt that they acted correctly.

Can a person rob God, as you rob Me? But you say: How have we robbed You? It, the answer, is that you have robbed Me in the tithes and the gifts; if you consider your actions regarding tithes and gifts, you will see how you rob Me.

You are cursed with the curse, yet you rob Me, or: As a result of the poverty that is due to the curse, you rob me. You cheat or are stingy with regard to tithes. The entire nation acts in this manner.

God declares: Bring all the tithes to the storehouse, where all the peoples’ tithes will be gathered, and let them, the tithes, be food in My house, as they will be divided among the Levites serving in the Temple. Test Me now with this – the utterance of the Lord of hosts – if I will not open for you the windows of the heavens, and pour out an endless blessing for you. Although it is generally prohibited to test God, in this instance God invites the people to do so, assuring them that if they bring the tithes in the proper manner, He will bestow blessing upon them.

I will rebuke the devourer for you. God will remove the various insects that harm produce. And he, the devourer, will not destroy the fruits of your land, and the vine will not prematurely lose its fruit for you in the field, said the Lord of hosts. The grape vine is often used to symbolize the matriarchs and the nation of Israel. The vine will not lose its grape clusters and will yield ripe produce. In parallel, the nation will not be bereaved of its children, on the condition that the people wholeheartedly and generously fulfill their duty to give tithes.

When you do so, all the nations will praise you and encourage you, as you will be a desired and acclaimed land, said the Lord of hosts.

The prophet presents another dialogue between the people and God: Your words have been harsh against Me, said the Lord; but you say: How have we spoken harshly against you?

You said, perhaps not directly or in the form of public protest, but in conversation with friends, or when grumbling in the privacy of your home: It is vain to worship God, and what is the profit in our having kept His commission and fulfilling His commandments, and in our having walked in the dark because of the Lord of hosts? They meant that they walked as if hunched over in darkness, restrained under the enormous burden of God’s commandments, and questioned what they gained from it all.

Now we ultimately find that we praise and strengthen criminals, as we see that the wicked are successful and joyful; also, the wicked are built up with children. They also test God with their sins and escape punishment. These are the harsh comments that the Jewish people spoke against God.

However, then those who fear the Lord spoke one to another and the Lord listened and heeded. Even when the faithful servants of God feel that the world is bearing down upon them, they do not complain; rather, they offer mutual words of encouragement. Indeed, their statements are not in vain, as God hears their quiet conversations about fearing Him and what that entails. A book of remembrance was written before Him containing this dialogue for those who fear the Lord, and those who think of His name and His ways. Although they thought that their statements and efforts had no effect, they were reminded here that God hears everything and preserves it all. Likewise, God would respond to their harsh complaints that they expressed when they saw the righteous morose, and the wicked joyful.

They, those who feared Me, will be Mine, said the Lord of hosts, on the day that I make a distinguished one. When that special day of judgment and redemption arrives, I promise that I shall protect them. I will have compassion on them just as a man has compassion on his son who serves him. On that day, it will become clear how close such people are to Me, as close as loving children who wish to please their father.

When the Day of Judgment arrives, you will return and see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not serve Him. These differences, which are not readily apparent at the current time, will one day be publicly revealed.

The prophet continues to describe the events of the Day of Judgment: For behold, the great day is coming, it shall be burning like a furnace, and all the criminals and all the doers of wickedness will be straw; the day that is coming will burn them, said the Lord of hosts. The scorching heat of the sun will burn all the wicked as though they were straw, so that it will not leave of them root or branch. Nothing of them will survive.

But while the wicked are punished by the sun, the sun of righteousness and salvation will shine for those who fear My name, with healing in its rays of light; and you will emerge and grow fat and healthy, or you will gambol, or you will expand materially, like fattened calves. At the same time that the wicked are destroyed, the righteous will enjoy the bounty of the land.

You will crush and press upon the wicked like dough; for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I am preparing, said the Lord of hosts. When the truth is revealed, and shines forth as the light of day, those who performed evil will be annihilated by its force, while the righteous will rejoice in that same light.

Overall, the book of Malachi consists of prophecies which deal with specific topics and general problems facing the Jewish people. The book concludes with a parting message on fundamental matters pertaining to the people’s attitudes and behaviors. First, the prophet refers to the past: Remember the Torah of Moses My servant, which I commanded him at Horev for all of Israel, statutes and ordinances.

Next, he addresses the future: Behold, I am sending Elijah the prophet to you before the coming of the great and terrible day of the Lord. The day of the Lord is described both here and elsewhere as a terrifying day of uncertainty, when the wicked will be condemned and the righteous rewarded. Before that day, the prophet Elijah will arrive. Elijah, herald of the redemption, will come to prepare the people for God’s arrival, and to rectify what he can beforehand.

In the world as it is currently, unredeemed, parents and children remain distant from one another. He, Elijah, will return the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers. Elijah will bring about a great reconciliation between the generations. He will galvanize the people to take advantage of the final opportunity to express remorse for their evil ways and to repent, lest I come and smite the land with utter destruction.No matter what, God will be revealed on that day. If He finds that the hearts of the people have not returned to Him, that they remain steadfast in their wickedness, the world is apt to collapse.